Active Urban Adventure Series
Mount Royal – Sunnyside LRT- Crowfoot LRT- Scenic Acres- Bowmont Park- Edworthy Park- home
This northbound cycle/transit is the second instalment in my active urban adventure series. These self-propelled urban adventures are a way to travel the city without your car. I am an advocate of choosing a lifestyle, not a gym; of integrating physical fitness into everyday. I hope you will be inspired to create your own self-propelled urban adventures with friends and family. Join me now as my family and I travel from Mount Royal, SW on bike to the Sunnyside LRT. We’ll travel the train to the Crowfoot LRT and then cycle home through suburbia side-streets, treed ravines to Rocky Mountain viewpoints and a picnic lunch in Bowmont Natural Environment Park. Self-propelled living; start ’em young and they’ll enjoy the health benefits for life.
Marda Loop to Crowfoot LRT and back:
Another 25 km cycle and transit day
With our panniers full of food, we headed our bikes northward, along the side streets of Bankview and into Scarboro, SW. Traveling on roads can be challenging with children, so we stick to the least busy side streets we can find. I repeat my urban biking mantra, “pay attention and watch for cars pulling out, opening doors and basically not seeing you”. Brainwashing my kids to be extra vigilant while on a bike is my goal. We cycled our way t0 the 14 Street sidewalk and stayed on the sidewalk while traveling under the CP rail train tracks. Soon we were travelling east on the Bow River Pathway; destination Sunnyside LRT!
Last week our LRT experience at Erlton was an uncomfortable lesson in mental illness. Sunnyside LRT has many more people on the platform that Erlton did at the same time of day and most of them seem to be SAIT and the U of C students. A group of drama students sported crazy wigs, nutty hats and clown-like outfits. No electronic device can compete with live, adult silliness; the kids were mesmerized.
Arrival Crowfoot LRT; beautiful and clean but not set up for bikes
The LRT stations are almost ready for cyclists but not quite. Each train car allows two bikes and the bikes must enter at the end of the car (not in the centre). There are signs that tell cyclists where they can enter. This is a great set-up and it is easy to navigate. It’s when you arrive at a station, such as Crowfoot, that you may need to be creative. We used the escalator to move our bikes up to the pedestrian overpass and then into the suburban neighbourhood of Scenic Acres. At this point we cracked open the bike path map. Small print warning: the fonts on the bike path map are EXTREMELY small (at least for this mum). I suggest that you travel with a city map booklet to cross-reference your route or if you have your iPhone handy,try the Calgary bike path app.
We made our way to Scenic Acres Blvd. and then found the bike path that traveled through a natural ravine park tucked in amongst the homes. This treed suburban oasis soon opened up to Scenic Acres Park; a sports park with soccer fields, tennis courts and some top notch public basketball courts. I wished I had packed a basketball amongst all the food so we could shoot some hoops.
Bowmont Natural Environment Park
Soon we were whizzing downhill on the pathway that runs parallel to Nose Hill Drive and into Bowmont Natural Environment Park (Map link). Bowmont is a mixed use park with a paved pathway running thoughout and many narrow dirt trails that skirt the escarpments and drop into the ravines. These off trail routes are popular with hikers and mountain bikers alike. We stuck to the main trail and climbed the short, steep paved path trail to a lookout where LUNCH WAS SERVED!! Leftover pizza, pb and j sandwiches, almonds, fruit, cookies and chocolate. Energy food is critical!
Views from our lunch spot included Canada Olympic Park, the Rockies to the west, the Bow River below and the tip-tops of Calgary’s downtown towers reaching out of the concrete.
Back on the bikes we continued high up overlooking the ravine trails, past the Waterfall Valley boardwalk. This is a great spot to jump off the bike, lock it up and hike down the boardwalk to the mini waterfall flowing over a calcium carbonate deposit called tufa. Want to know more about tufa and the geology and natural history of Bowmont park? Click here.
Home Road bike lanes to Shouldice and Edworthy Parks: picnic central
The bike lanes on Home Road are fantastic and I sure hope the city will continue to bring more dedicated bike lanes, preferably with barriers between the bikes and cars, to more areas. A downhill coast on Home Road lead us to the Bow River Pathway. Soon we were soaking up smells of barbecue sausages and the sounds of families having fun in the great outdoors. Shouldice Park (Map link) is a picturesque spot along the Bow River and has lots of picnic tables making is a favourite spot for family gatherings on sunny summer evenings and weekends.
Onward along the Bow River Pathway to Edworthy Park, another picnic mecca. Angels Cafe, the only cafe in Edworthy Park, was doing a brisk business and the line-up was long so we didn’t stop for an ice-cream, but decided to peddle on with the plan of having a treat at home. We crossed to the south side of the Bow River and traveled east on the Bow River Pathway. Roller bladders, walkers and cyclists were out in full force. We cycled past one of my favourite urban hikes, the Douglas Fir Trail in Edworthy Park. It’s a trail of stairs tucked in a stand of Douglas Fir Trees below the community of Wildwood. It’s a perfect shady hiking route on a hot summer day.
Homeward bound: the Pumphouse Theatre, Scarboro, Bankview and home
4 hours later
The Bow River Pathway on the south side is a windy ride through the poplars. We got stopped by one train and watched many more chugg on by. We climbed through the community of Scarboro and then in to Bankview. The final climbs of the day were followed by a big ice cream cone at home. Another successful self-propelled Calgary adventure!
Next Adventure: Head south and cycle east! Fish Creek Park, Carburn Park, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and continue along the Bow River Pathway through the East Village until we find ice cream or food trucks!
